


If You Feed a Stray, It'll Just Make Him Stay

by marichatting



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, but yeah i finished it, i started writing this eight months ago and completely forgot about it until tonight, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 13:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14262453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marichatting/pseuds/marichatting
Summary: Adrien is determined to get to know the real Marinette.He decides the best way to go about it is as Chat Noir.





	If You Feed a Stray, It'll Just Make Him Stay

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've finished and posted since before school started, and it feels amazing!! I'm so happy!!
> 
> I have a lot of stuff in the works right now- mostly for Miraculous, but a bit for Voltron and Harry Potter as well- and I'm so excited about it!

It started out innocently enough.

Adrien just wanted to get to know Marinette- the real Marinette- and knew he couldn't do so as Adrien.  
He had known for a while the Marinette he knew wasn't the real Marinette, he just didn't know why she acted so strangely around him.

"Why is she so different around me? Is it because of my father?" He asked Nino one day after she happened to come up in their conversation. Nino had told him about the way she acted without him around, but Adrien couldn't understand why her personality changed so drastically around him. "She's a fan of his work, isn't she? Is that why?"

Nino stared at him blankly. "Is that a joke?"

"What?"

"Dude," Nino said. "You're seriously not getting it?"

Adrien furrowed his brow. "No?"

"When she's around you, she's shy, and she stutters and blushes all the time. She can barely speak around you. You don't get it?"

Adrien slowly shook his head. "Do you know why she does that?"

Nino sighed, exasperated. "You're hopeless. Homeschool doomed you."

 

***

After Nino refused to tell him what was going on with Marinette, Adrien decided to take matters into his own hands.

That was how he found himself perched on her balcony at midnight.

Or, rather, that was how Chat Noir found himself perched on her balcony at midnight.

He could see her sitting in her room, drawing something as she watched a movie on her computer. He softly rapped on her door and watched as she turned around and her eyes grew wide at the sight of him. She paused her movie and rushed over to the door, sliding it open a crack.

"Chat Noir? What are you doing here?" She hissed, glancing at her bedroom door.

"Well, hello to you too."

Marinette shakes her head. "Sorry, I just meant- wait, no, that's exactly what I meant. What are you doing here? Is there an akuma or something?"

"No," Chat shook his head. "I just wanted to talk, if that's okay."

Marinette furrowed her brow. "Why me?"

"We, uh, we met back when you helped me beat the Evillustrator, and you seemed nice."

Marinette stares at him skeptically for a moment. "Are you sure it's not because I live in a bakery?"

Chat laughs nervously. "Well, you caught me." Why didn't I think of that? he thought.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Come on in. I'll go get you something."

"Oh, it's fine, you don't have to-"

"You came here for food, so I'll get you some food."

Before he could protest again, Marinette was out of the room.

Chat began to silently move about Marinette's room. He had been there once before as Adrien, but it had been a while, and it had changed some.

The first thing he noticed was that the movie she was watching was the first Captain America movie. He grinned to himself, pleased that she seemed interested in superheroes.

Next, he noticed that the drawing she had been working on was a dress she was designing. It was short and pink and looked amazing; he made a mental note to mention the internship program at his father's company the next time he saw her as Adrien.

But what really caught his attention was when he noticed that, to his surprise, she had several pictures of him taped on her wall. Not Chat Noir, but Adrien.

She had probably fifteen or twenty pictures of him- magazine covers, pictures from photoshoots, even some taken by paparazzi and fans.

He was still staring at the collage of his face when Marinette returned, three boxed pastries in her hands.

"Oh, um," Marinette stuttered. "That- that's just-"

"Why do you have so many pictures of Adrien Agreste?" he asked, turning around to face her.  
"I- um- I just like the clothes he's modeling?"

"There aren't any other models up here."

Marinette blushed furiously. "Um, Gabriel Agreste is my favorite designer, and, uh, Adrien just happens to model a lot of his best clothes? I put them up there for- um- oh! Inspiration! Yeah, I design clothes, too!" She hurriedly set down the boxes of pastries on her desk and snatched up the design she had been working on when he arrived. "See?"

Chat nodded slowly. "Wow, you're really good at that."

Marinette gave a small smile. "Thank you."

Chat nodded. "You know... I actually know Adrien Agreste."

Marinette looked surprised. "You do? I mean, I do too, he's in my class- how do you know him?"

Chat shrugged nonchalantly. "I have connections. He's pretty cool, huh?"

Marinette blushed again and stared at her feet. "Yeah, he's- he's really cool." 

“You don’t like, hate him or anything?”

Marinette’s head snapped up to meet his gaze. “No, of course not. Why would I hate him?”

Chat shrugged. “I don’t know. Some people just think he’s- um- annoying. You don’t feel that way?”

“No, not at all,” Marinette said. “I think he’s… amazing.” She shook her head and turned back to the food. "Anyway, here are your snacks."

Chat paused for a moment. "I don't have any money with me... I’ll just go home and grab some-"

"No, no," Marinette insisted, shoving the snacks into his hands. "Just think of it as a 'thank you' for saving Paris all the time."

Chat grinned. "Thank you, purr-incess."

Marinette snorted. "Purr-incess? Really?"

"You're the princess in the tower, and I'm prince charming," he said. To emphasize his point, he bowed and took her hand in his, kissing the back of it. However, he forgot he was holding three pastries, and they tumbled to the floor.

Marinette laughed and bent down to help pick them up. "Actually, I'm one of the three bears, and you're Goldilocks coming into our home and eating all our food."

Chat laughed, gathering the pastries into his arms and standing up straight again. "You're too tiny to be a bear."

"I'm the baby bear."

"Are Mama and Papa Bear bigger, then?"

Marinette thought about it for a moment. "Well, Papa Bear is."

They both laughed.

"Do you, uh, want to stay for a while?" Marinette asked after a moment of silence.

Chat grinned.

***

They stayed up talking for hours, trying to stay quiet enough not to alert Marinette's parents to Chat's presence. Every once in a while, when they thought they heard one of them coming up the stairs, Chat would run and hide in Marinette's closet. But no one ever came to the door.

They talked about everything, from schoolwork to their parents to the universe to ferrets.

"But they're so cute!" Marinette protested at one point.

Chat wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ferrets are so not cute. They're evil."

"Did a ferret murder your children, Chat?"

"No, but my cousin had one that bit me when I was little."

They continued to talk like that until Marinette looked at her phone and they both realized it was 4 A.M.  
"I have to be up in three hours for- um- something my father's making me do," Chat said. "I'll see you around, Princess."

"Bye, Chat. See you around."

***

That was only the beginning. Chat began coming over every weekend, and even sometimes during the week- although he didn't stay nearly as late those nights, since they both had school the next day.

They would stay up all night talking and cracking jokes and playing video games. Soon, Adrien spent every day itching to go to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He was constantly daydreaming about being there with her.

Every second spent in class or at home was agonizing. She sat mere feet away from him, but she just wasn’t the same when he wasn’t wearing cat ears and skin-tight leather. He wanted nothing more than to talk to her like he did as Chat, but he just couldn’t. No matter how much he tried to joke around and be friends with her, she just didn’t seem to want to be friends with Adrien.

So, Chat was his only hope- at least for now.

***

One Friday night, they were up late watching Legally Blonde and lying side-by-side on Marinette’s bed. They had grown so emotionally close over the previous few months that they no longer felt at all awkward being so physically close.

They were only halfway paying attention to the movie, as it was two in the morning and they were both feeling very giggly. They were sharing a large slice of chocolate cake as they whispered back and forth and made joking comments about the movie.

Suddenly, Chat paused the movie and sat up to look at her, gathering his confidence.

“Marinette.”

Marinette sat up as well, a concerned look on her face. “Yeah?”

Chat steeled himself. “Look. I’m feeling a little bit drunk right now, and I’m not sure how that’s possible because all I’ve had to drink was milk, so unless you spiked it or something- and that doesn’t really seem like your style- there’s no possible way for me to be drunk, so I guess it must be like what I call ‘sleepover drunk’ when you’re up late at night with friends and you’re so tired you start acting drunk, or I’m just- I don’t know- high on life, or something, but-“

“Chat,” Marinette interrupted. “You’re rambling.”

“Right. Yeah. Um,” Chat scratched the back of his neck. “Okay, well, my point is that I’m feeling kind of invincible and like I could do anything right now. So, while I normally wouldn’t tell you all this, I’m going to say it: this room has kind of been my favorite place on Earth in the past few months. I mean it. My house is- well, it’s generally not a very happy place for anyone- and I rarely even feel welcome there. School is great because I get to see my friends and get away from my father for a little while, but it’s not a place where I can just relax all the time. But here… here, I can be myself- or, mostly myself- and I can just relax and have a good time. And this is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I actually daydream about being here a lot during the week because I just want so badly to be here. And right now, you’re one of my best friends in the world, and I feel like I can really be honest with you, and that’s not something I feel with many people. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is… thank you, Marinette. You’ve given me so much in the past few months, and I wouldn’t trade these nights I spend with you for the world.”

Marinette was silent for what seemed like an eternity, and Chat was beginning to fear he had made her uncomfortable.

Then she kissed him.

It was like a drug. Her hand cupped the back of his neck, and his gloved hands clutched her waist. Her soft lips pressed against his took him higher and higher until he was on Cloud Nine. He never wanted it to end.

Eventually, they broke apart, both breathing heavily with their foreheads pressed together.

They didn’t resume the movie. They didn’t even speak.

They just lay down together, wrapped in each other’s arms, until they fell asleep.

***

Marinette awoke the next morning to the flash of a camera.  
“Crap,” a voice whispered. “The flash.”

Marinette opened her eyes, squinting against the bright light of her bedroom, to see Alya standing over her with her phone in hand.

“Hey Alya,” she said groggily. She began to sit up but quickly noticed something heavy draped over her stomach.

She was suddenly struck with memories of last night, and a mysterious lack of any memory of Chat leaving.

Her heart pounding, she turned her head to see a certain leather-clad superhero still asleep in her bed.

Crap.

Marinette slowly turned her head back to face Alya, already grimacing in anticipation of her best friend’s impending freak-out.

“You have a lot of explaining to do, girl.”

**Author's Note:**

> I might do a sequel, if you guys want one!
> 
> Feel free to comment with feedback and/or request a oneshot! Thanks!
> 
> -Emma
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [mykinkisdracomalfoy ](http://www.mykinkisdracomalfoy.tumblr.com)


End file.
